Ph 7-3>93 


CHARTER 


The City o& Ashtabula, 


ly 


Ohio 


Name and 
Powers. 


CHARTER 
Of the City of Ashtabula, Ohio 


We, the people of the City of Ashtabula, Ohio, in order to 
obtain the benefits of local self-government, to encourage more 
direct and businesslike methods in the transaction of our muni- 
cipal affairs, and otherwise to promote our common welfare, do 
adopt the following Charter of our City: 


Corporate Powers, Rights and Privileges. 
Section 1. The inhabitants of the City of Ashtabula, as 


its limits now are, or may hereafter be, shall be a body politic” 


and corporate by name, The City of Ashtabula, and as such 
shall have perpetual succession ; may use a corporate seal; may 
sue and be sued; may acquire property in fee simple or lesser 
interest or estate by purchase, gift, devise, appropriation, lease, 
or lease with the privilege to purchase for any municipal pur- 
pose; may sell, lease, hold, manage and control such property, 
and make any and all rules and regulations by ordinance or 
resolution which may be required to carry out fully all the 
provisions of any conveyance, deed, or will, in relation to any 
gift or bequest, or the provisions of any lease by which it may 
acquire property ; may acquire, construct, own, lease and oper- 
ate and regulate public utilities; may assess, levy and collect 
taxes for general and special purposes on all the subjects or 


objects which the city may lawfully tax; may borrow money ~ 


on the faith and credit of the city by the issue or sale of bonds 
or notes of the city; may appropriate the money of the city 
for all lawful purposes; may create, provide for, construct, 
regulate and maintain all things of the nature of public works 
and improvements; may levy and collect assessments for local 
improvements; may license and regulate persons, corporations 
and associations engaged in any business, occupation, profes- 
sion or trade; may define, prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent 
all things detrimental to the health, morals, comfort, safety, 
convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the city, and all 
nuisances and causes thereof; may regulate the construction, 


height, and the material used in all buildings, and the mainte- — 


nance and occupancy thereof; may regulate the construction, 
location, size, height and the materials used in all bill-boards, 
and the maintenance and use of the same; may regulate and 
control the use, for whatever purposes, of the streets and other 


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public places; may create, establish, organize and abolish 3 


offices and fix the salaries and compensations of all officers and 
employees; may make and enforce local police, sanitary and 
other regulations; and may pass such ordinances as may be 
expedient for maintaining and promoting the peace, good gov- 
ernment and welfare of the city, and for the performance of the 
functions thereof. The city shall have all powers that now are, 
or hereafter may be granted to municipalities by the Constitu- 
tion or laws of Ohio; and all such powers, whether expressed 
or implied, shall be exercised and enforced in the manner pre- 
scribed by this Charter, or when not prescribed herein, in such 
manner as shall be provided by ordinances or resolutions of 
the Council. 


Section 2. The enumeration of particular powers by this 
Charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive, but, in 
addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied thereby or 
appropriate to the exercise thereof, the city shall have, and 
may exercise, all other powers which, under the Constitution 
and laws of Ohio, it would be competent for this Charter 
specifically to enumerate. 


The Council. 


Section 3. All powers of the city, except such as are 
vested in the Board of Education and in the Police Court, and 
except as otherwise provided by this Charter or by the Consti- 
tution of the State, are hereby vested in a Council to consist 
of seven members elected at large; and, except as otherwise 
prescribed by this Charter or by the Constitution of the State, 
the Council may by ordinance or resolution prescribe the man- 
ner in which any power of the city shall be exercised. In the 
absence of such provision as to any power, such power shall be 
exercised in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by the 
general laws of the State applicable to municipalities. 


Section 4. Members of Council shall hold office for terms 
of two years beginning January first after their election. 


Section 5. Each member of the Council for at least five 
years immediately prior to his election shall have been, and 
during his term of office shall continue to be, a resident of the 
City of Ashtabula, Ohio, and shall have the qualifications of 
an elector therein. He shall not hold any other public office 
or employment except that of Notary Public or member of the 
State Militia. 


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515714 


Enumerated 
Powers Not 
Exclusive. 


Powers. 


Term of 
Office. 


Qualifications 
of Members. 


Vacancies. 


Salary. 


President. 


The Council shall be judge of the election and qualification 
of its members. | It may punish or expel any member for dis- 
orderly conduct or violation of its rules. Expulsion shall not 
take place without the concurrence of five members, nor until 
the delinquent member shall have been notified of the charge 
against him and given an opportunity to be heard. 


Section 6. Any vacancy in the Council shall be filled for 
the unexpired term by the appointment, by the remaining 
members, of any qualified citizen whose appointment is 
requested by a petition signed by not less than three-fourths 
of the electors who signed the nominating petition of the mem- 
ber whose place 1s to be filled. If no such petition is received 
within thirty days after the vacancy occurred, an appointment 
may be made to fill the vacancy by the affirmative vote of at 
least four of the remaining members. 


a! 


Section 7. Each member of the Council, except the Presi- 
dent, shall receive a salary of one hundred dollars a year, and 
the President of Council shall receive a salary of one hundred 
and fifty dollars per year, payable in equal monthly install- 
ments: 


Section 8. The Council shall at the time of organizing 
elect one of its members as President and another as Vice- 
President for terms of two years. In case the members of the 
Council within five days after the time herein fixed for their 
organization meeting, are unable to agree upon a President or 
a Vice-President of such Council then a President, or a Vice- 
President, or both, as the occasion may require, shall be select- 
ed from the two members receiving the highest number of 
votes therefor, by lot conducted by the City Solicitor, who shall 
certify the result of such lot upon the journal of the Council. 

The President shall preside at all meetings of the Council 
and perform such other duties consistent with his office as 
may be imposed by it; and he shall have a voice and vote in its 
proceedings, but no veto. He may use the title of Mayor in the 
execution of legal instruments or where the general laws of 
the State so require; but this shall not be construed as con- 
ferring upon him the administrative or judicial functions of a 
Mayor under the general laws of the State, except that if the 
Police Court of the city be abolished without the establishment 
of another Court therein with like or similar criminal jurisdic- 
tion, and until such Court is established, the President of the 
Council as ex-officio Mayor shall exercise all the judicial func- 


f 


tions of a Mayor under the general laws of the State, and shall 
receive for such services an additional compeusation of $600 
per annum, payable monthly. 

The President of the Council shall be recognized as the 
official head of the city by the Courts for the purpose of serv- 
ing civil process, by the Governor for the purposes of military 
law, and for all ceremonial purposes. He may take command 
of the police and govern the city by proclamation during times 
of public danger or emergency, and the Council shall be the 
judge of what constitutes such public danger or emergency. 
The powers and duties of the President shall be such as are 
conferred upon him by this Charter, together with such others 
as are conferred by the Council in pursuance of the Baan sake 
of this Charter, and no others. 

If the President be temporarily absent from the Se, or 
- becomes temporarily disabled from any cate, his duties shall 
be performed during such absence or disability by the Vice- 
President. In the absence of both President and Vice-Presi- 
dent the other members of the Council shall select one of their 
number to perform the duties of President. 


Section 9. The Council shall appoint a City Manager, a 
GipvasOncitor .a Citve ceasurer, a tacalthi@incer,.and.a City 
Auditor. The City Auditor shall be ex-officio Clerk of the 
Council, and shall keep its records and perform all other duties 
required by this Charter or by the Council. Council may also 
appoint and employ such other officers and employees of its 
body as it deems necessary. Council shall also designate some 
omcer of the city, other than the City Auditor or City [reas- 
urer, to act as its Purchasing Agent. All appointees of the 
Council shall hold office at the pleasure of the Council. 


Section 10. At seven-thirty o’clock P. M. on the second 
day of January following a regular municipal election, or if 
such day be Sunday, on the day following, the Council shall 
meet at the usual place for holding the meetings of the legisla- 
tive body of the city for the purpose of organization. There- 
after the Council shall meet at such times as may be prescribed 
by ordinance or resolution, except that it shall meet regularly 
not less than once each week. The President, any two mem- 
bers of the Council, or the City Manager, may call special 
meetings of the Council, upon at least twelve hours’ written 
notice to each member, served personally or left at his usual 
place of residence. All meetings of the Council shall be public 
and any citizen shall have access to the minutes and records 


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Appointees. 


Time of 
Meeting. 


thereof at all reasonable times. The Council shall determine 
its own rules\and order of business and shall keep a journal 
of its proceedings. | 


Penalty for Section 11. For each absence of a member of Council 

ees from a regular meeting of the Council, there shall be deducted 
a sum equal to two per cent. of the annual salary of such mem-_ 
ber. Absence from’ five consecutive regular meetings shall 
operate to vacate the seat of a member unless the absence is 
exctised by the Council by resolution setting forth such excuse 
and entered upon the journal. 


Legislative Section 12. The legislative action of Council shall be by 

oe ordinance or resolution, provided that this shall not apply to 
action accepting a bid for work and directing the appropriate 
officer to enter into a contract, to action ordering the dismissal 
of an officer, to action ordering an election, or to action direct- 
ing an officer or board to furnish the Council with information 
as to the affairs of any office, department or board. 

A majority of all the members elected to the Council shall 
be a quorum, but a less number may adjourn from day to day 
and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner 
and under such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance. 
The affirmative vote of at least four members shall be neces- 
sary to adopt any ordinance or resolution; and the vote upon 
the passage of all ordinances and resolutions shall be taken by 
“veas” and “nays” and entered upon the journal. 


Ordiiance Section 13. Each proposed ordinance or resolution shall 

Bearcat be introduced in written or printed form, and shall not contain 
more than one subject, which shall be clearly stated in the title; 
but general appropriation ordinances may contain the various 
subjects and accounts for which moneys are to be appropriated. 
The enacting clause of all ordinances passed by the Council 
shall be, “Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Ashta- 
bula, Ohio.” ‘The enacting clause of all ordinances submitted 
to popular election by the initiative shall be: “Be it ordained 
by the people of the City of Ashtabula, Ohio.” 

No ordinance, unless it be an emergency measure, shall be 
passed until it has been read at two regular meetings not less 
than one week apart, or the requirement of such reading has 
been dispensed with by the vote of at least five members of the 
Council. No ordinance or resolution or section thereof shall 
be revised or amended, unless the new ordinance or resolution 


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contain the entire ordinance or resolution or section revised 
or amended; and the original ordinance, resoltition, section or 
sections so amended shall be repealed. 

No resolution declaring it necessary to proceed with any 
public improvement shall be adopted until: complete plans, 
specifications, profiles and estimates have been submitted to 
the Council and approved by it; and the same, or a copy there- 
of, shall thereafter remain on file in the office of the City 
Engineer, subject to inspection by the public. 


Section 14. All ordinances and resolutions passed by the Emergency 
Council shall be in effect on and after the thirtieth day from ees 
the date of their passage except that the Council may, by the 
vote of five members, pass emergency measures to take effect 
at the time indicated therein. 

An emergency measure is an ordinance or resolution pro- 
viding for the immediate preservation of the public peace, 
property, health or safety, or for the usual daily operation of 
a municipal department, in which the emergency is set forth 
and defined in a preamble thereto. Ordinances appropriating 
money may be passed as emergency measures, but no measure 
making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise or other 
special privilege, or regulating the rate to be charged for its 
service by any public utility, shall ever be so passed. 


Section 15. Every ordinance or resolution upon its final Record and 
passage shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and Chee nt Sew 
shall be authenticated by the signatures of the presiding officer 
and the Clerk of the Council. Every ordinance or resolution of 
a general or permanent nature shall be published once within 
ten days after its final passage in the manner hereinafter pro- 
vided; except that whenever the passage of more than one 
ordinance or resolution is required by law to complete the 
legislation necessary to make and pay for any public improve- 
ment, the provisions of this section shall apply only to the first 
ordinance or resolution required to be passed, and not to any 
subsequent ordinance or resolution relating thereto, provided 
that before issuing bonds to pay for any public improvement 
Council may publish a notice headed, “‘Notice of Bond Issue for 
Public Improvement,” describing said improvement in general 
terms and setting forth within what time assessments on prop- 
erty specially benefited may be paid in cash, and for what 
period of time and at what rate of interest bonds will be issued 
for that portion of the assessment not so paid. 


ri 


Times of 
Publication. 


Price and 
Mode of 
Publication. 


Salaries and 
Bonds. 


Section 16. Advertisements for bids for work and notices 
of the sale or lease of real estate or sale of personal property 


\ shall be published once a week for not less than two nor more 


than four consectitive weeks; proclamations of elections, such 
number of times as provided by law; and all other matters, 
once. 


Section 17. All the above mentioned publications, as well 
as all other newspaper publications made by the city, except 
as hereinafter provided, shall be published in one newspaper of 
general circulation in the city, printed in the English language, 
to be designated by the Council. Before designating the news- 


- paper to carry such publications the Council shall request all 


such newspapers to submit sealed bids for such publishing 
together with their published rate card for commercial adver- 
tising, and a sworn statement of their bona fide net paid 
circulation within the City of Ashtabula, and in making such 
designation the Council shail take into consideration both the 
rate and circulation of the newspaper, and the City shall there- 
upon enter into a contract with the newspaper so designated 
for such period of time, not exceeding three years, as Council 
shall determine. | 

All such publications shall be set solid in the regular 
reading type of the newspaper so designated, but not larger 
than eight-point type and nine-point body, with an eighteen- 
point headline specifying the nature of the publication; pro- 
vided that by order of Council special notices or advertising 
may be set in larger type than above specified, and notices of 
the sale of bonds may be published in not to exceed two news- 
papers published outside of the city. The newspaper carrying 
any or all of such publications shall be paid for the quantity 
of space used at a rate no higher than it charges for the same 
space for commercial display advertising. Whenever it may 
appear to the Council that the rates offered by such newspapers 
are unfair, such other means of securing due publicity may be 
employed, in lieu of newspaper advertising, as the Council may 
by resolution determine. 


Section 18. The Council shall fix by ordinance the salary 
or rate of compensation of all officers and employees of the city 
entitled to compensation, except as otherwise provided in this 
Charter; but this shall not prevent the city from securing the 
services of special or temporary employees who shall receive 
such compensation as may be agreed upon, and approved by 


8 


Council. Council may require any officer or employee to give 
a bond for the faithful performance of his duty, in such an 
amount as it may determine, and it may provide that the pre- 
mium thereof shall be paid by the city. 


Section 19. No member of the Council, the City Manager 
or any other officer or employee of the city, shall be directly or 
indirectly interested in any contract, job, work or service with 
or for the city; nor in the profits or emoluments thereof, nor in 
the expenditure of any money on the part of the city, other 
than his fixed compensation; and any contract with the City 
in which any such officer or employee is, or becomes, interested 
may be declared void by the Council. 

No member of the Council, the City Manager or other officer 
or employee of the City shall knowingly accept any gift, frank, 
free ticket, pass, reduced price or reduced rate of service from 
any person, firm or corporation operating a public utility or 
engaged in business of.a public nature within the City, or from 
any person known to him to have or to. be endeavoring to secure, 
a contract with the City; but the provisions of this Section shall 
not apply to the transportation of policemen or firemen in uni- 
form or wearing their official badges, when the same is provided 
for by ordinance. 


Initiative and Referendum. 


Section 20. Any proposed ordinance may be submitted to 
the Council by petition signed by electors of the City equal in 
number to ten (10) per cent. of the total number of registered 
electors therein. All petition papers, circulated with respect to 
any proposed ordinance, shall be uniform in character, and 
shall contain the proposed ordinance in full, and the names and 
addresses of at least five electors who shall be officially regarded 
as filing the petition and shall constitute a committee of the 
petitioners for the purpose hereinafter named. = 8 _—_s...... 

Each signer of a petition shall sign his name in ink or in- 
delible pencil, and shall place on the petition paper after his name 
his place of residence by street and number, and the date of 
signing. The signatures to any such petition need not all be 
appended to one paper but to each such paper there shall be 
attached an affidavit by the circulator thereof stating the num- 
ber of signers to such part of the petition and that each signature 
appended to the paper is the genuine signature of the person 


i) 


General *Dis- 
qualifications. 


The Initiative. 


whose name it purports to be, and was made in the presence of 
the afhant and on the date indicated. No person shall sign more 
than one petition paper for the same purpose. 


Before any ordinance so proposed shall be submitted to the 
Council, its form shall be approved by the City Solicitor, who 
shall endorse his approval thereon; and it shall be the duty of 
the City Solicitor to draft any such proposed ordinance in proper 
legal language and to render such other services to persons 
desiring to propose such ordinance as shall be necessary to make 
the same proper for consideration by the Council. 


All papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and 
filed with the Clerk of the Council as one instrument within one 
hundred and twenty days from the date of the first signature 
thereon. Within ten days from the filing of such petition the 
Clerk shall endorse thereon a certificate showing the number of 
signatures of qualified electors contained therein and the num- 
ber required. 

If the Clerk’s certificate shows that the petition is insuff- 
cient he shall at once notify each member of the committee of 
the petitioners, hereinbefore provided for, and the petition may 
be supplemented at any time within fifteen days from the date of 
such notification by filing with the Clerk an additional petition 
paper or papers in the same manner as provided for the original 
petition. 

Upon the filing of such supplemental petition the Clerk shall, 
within ten days thereafter, attach thereto his certificate as herein- 
before required. If the petition as so supplemented is still in- 
sufficient, or if no supplement shall have been filed, the Clerk 
shall file the petition in his office and shall notify each member 
of the committee of that fact. The final finding of the insuff- 
ciency of a petition shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition 
for the same purpose. 


When the certificate of the Clerk shows the petition to be 
sufficient, he shall submit the proposed ordinance to the Council 
at its next regular meeting and the Council shall take final action 
thereon within thirty days from the date of such submission. If 
the Council reject the proposed ordinance, or pass it in a form 
different from that set forth in the petition, the committee of 
the petitioners may require that it be submitted to a vote of the 
electors in its original form, or that it be submitted to a vote of 
the electors with any proposed change, addition or amendment, 
which was presented to Council in writing by said committee 
during the consideration thereof by the Council. 


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When an ordinance proposed by petition is to be submitted 
to a vote of the electors the committee of the petitioners shall 
certify that fact and the proposed ordinance to the Clerk of the 
Council within forty (40) days after the submission of such 
proposed ordinance to the Council. 


Upon receipt of the certificate and certified copy of the pro- 
posed ordinance, the Clerk shall certify that fact to the Council 
at its next regular meeting. If no election is to be held within 
six months and more than thirty days after the receipt of the 
Clerk’s certificate by the Council, the Council may provide for 
submitting the proposed ordinance to the electors at a special 
election. If a supplemental petition, signed by electors equal in 
number to twenty-five (25) per cent. of the total number of 
registered electors in the municipality other than and in addi- 
tion to those who signed the original petition, be filed with the 
Clerk asking that the proposed ordinance be submitted to the 
voters at a time indicated in such petition, the Council shall 
provide for a special election at such time. The sufficiency of 
any such petition shall be determined, and it may be supple- 
mented, in the manner hereinbefore provided for original 
petitions for proposing ordinances to the Council. If no other 
provision be made as to the time of submitting a proposed 
ordinance to a vote of the electors, it shall be submitted at the 
next election. 

The ballots used when voting upon any such proposed 
ordinance shall state the title of the ordinance to be voted on 
and below it the two propositions, “For the Ordinance’ and 
“Against the Ordinance. Immediately at “the, left of, -each 
proposition there shall be a square in which by making a cross 
(X) the voter may vote for or against the proposed ordinance. 
If a majority of the qualified electors voting on any such pro- 
posed ordinance shall vote in favor thereof, it shall thereupon 
become -an ordinance of the City. 

No ordinance adopted by an electoral vote shall be repealed 
or amended except by an electoral vote, but an ordinance to 
repeal or amend any such ordinance may, by resolution of the 
Council, be submitted to an electoral vote on the day of any 
regular or special election or at a special municipal election called 
for that purpose, provided notice of the intention so to do be 
published by Council not more than sixty nor less than thirty 
days prior to such election in the manner required for the pub- 
lication of ordinances. If an amendment is so proposed, such 
notice shall contain the proposed amendment in full. Such sub- 


4 


1 


The Referendum. 


Ordinances. 


mission ‘shall be in the same manner, and the vote shall have the 
same effect, as in cases of ordinances submitted to an election 
by popular petition. 

Proposed ordinances for repealing any existing ordinance 
or ordinances in whole or in part, or amending the same, may 
be submitted to the Council as provided in the preceding Sections 
for initiating ordinances. 


Section 21. No ordinance passed by the Council, unless it 
be an emergency measure, shall go into effect until the thirtieth 
day after its final passage. If, at any time, within said period a 
petition signed by qualified electors of the City equal in number 
to ten (10) per cent. of the total number of registered electors 
therein, be filed with the Clerk of the Council requesting that any 
such ordinance be repealed or submitted to a vote of the electors, 
it shall not become operative until the steps indicated herein 
have been taken. 

When such a petition is filed with the Clerk of the Council 
he shall determine the sufficiency thereof in the manner pro- 
vided in Section 20 of this Charter. If the petition be found sufh- 
cient, or be rendered sufficient by a supplemental petition which 
may be filed as provided in said Section 20, the Clerk shall certify 
that fact to the Council, which shall proceed to reconsider the 
ordinance. If, upon such reconsideration, the ordinance be not 
entirely repealed, Council shall provide for submitting it to a 
vote of the electors, and in so doing the Council shall be governed 
by the provisions of said Section 20 respecting the time of sub- 
mission and manner of voting on ordinances proposed to the 
Council by petition. If when submitted to a vote of the electors 
any such ordinance be not approved by a majority of those vot- 
ing thereon, it shall be deemed repealed. 

Referendum petitions need contain only the title, number 
and date of passage of the ordinances, the repeal of which is 
sought; but they shall be subject in all other respects to the 
requirements for petitions submitting proposed ordinances to the 
Council. Ballots used in referendum elections shall conform in 
all respects to those provided for in said Section 20 of this 
Charter. 


Section 22. Ordinances submitted to the Council by 
initiative petition and passed by the Council without change, or 
passed in an amended form and not required to be submitted to 
a vote of the electors by the committee of the petitioners, shall 
be subject to the referendum in the same manner as other 
ordinances. 

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Section 23. If the provisions of two or more ordinances 
adopted or approved at the same election conflict, the conflicting 
provisions of the ordinance receiving the highest affirmative 
vote shall prevail. 


Section 24. Ordinances passed as emergency measures shall 
be subject to referendum in like manner as other ordinances, 
except that they shall go into effect at the time indicated in such 
ordinances. If, when submitted to a vote of the electors, an 
emergency measure be not approved by a majority of those vot- 
ing thereon, it shall be considered repealed as régards any further 
action thereunder ; but such measure so repealed shall be deemed 
sufficient authority for payments made or expense incurred in 
accordance therewith previous to the referendum vote thereon. 


Section 25. The following ordinances or measures shall not 
be subject to the referendum, but shall go into effect at the time 
indicated therein: 


(a) The annual appropriation ordinance. 


(b) In all cases where Council is required to pass more 
than one ordinance or other measure to complete the legislation 
necessary to make and pay for any public improvement, the 
referendum shall apply only to the first ordinance or measure 
required to be passed and not to any subsequent ordinances or 
measures relating thereto, and said first ordinance or measure 
shall clearly state the purpose and general scope of. the improve- 
ment. 

(c) Ordinances or resolutions providing for the approval 
or disapproval of appointments or removals by the City Manager, 
and appointments or removals made by the Council. 


(d). Actions by the Council on the approval of official 
bonds. 

(e) Ordinances or resolutions providing for the sub- 
mission of any proposition to a vote of the electors. 


Section 26. In case a petition be filed requiring that a meas- 
ure passed by the Council, providing for an expenditure of 
money, a bond issue, or a public improvement be submitted to a 
vote of the electors, all the steps preliminary to such actual 
expenditure, actual issuance of bonds, or actual execution of a 
contract for such improvement, may be taken prior to the 
election. 


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Conflicting 
Ordinances. 


Referendum on 
Emergency 
Measures. 


When 
Referendum 
Does Not 
Apply. 


Referendum— 
Preliminary 
Action. 


Appointment. 


Powers and 
Duties. 


Heads of 
Departments. 


City Manager. 

Section 27. The Council shall appoint a City Manager who 
shall be the administrative head of the municipal government 
under the direction and supervision of the Council, and who 
shall hold office at the pleasure of the Council. He shall be 
appointed without regard to his political beliefs and need not 


be a resident of the City at the time of his appointment. During 


the absence or disability of the City Manager the Council may 
designate some properly qualified person to execute the functions 
of the office. 


Section 28. The powers and duties of the City Manager 
shall be: j . 

(a) To see that the laws and ordinances be enforced. 

(b) Except as herein provided, to appoint and remove 
all heads of departments, and all subordinate officers and em- 
ployees of the City; all appointments to be upon merit and fit- 
ness alone. | 5 

(c) To exercise control over all departments and divi- 
sions created herein or that hereafter may be created by the 
Council. 

(d) To see that all terms and conditions imposed in favor 
of the City or its inhabitants in any public utility franchise be 
faithfully kept and performed; and upon knowledge of any 
violation thereof to call the same to the attention of the City 
Solicitor, who is hereby required to take such steps as are neces- 
sary tO enforce the same: 

(e) To attend all meetings of the Council, with the right 
to take part in the discussion but having no vote. 

(f) To recommend to the Council for adoption such meas- 
ures as he may deem necessary or expedient. 

(g) To act as budget commissioner and to keep the Coun- 
cil fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the 
City ; and 

(h) To perform such other duties as may be prescribed 
by this Charter or be required of him by ordinance or resolution 


of the Council. 


Section 29. Excepting the departments of City Solicitor, | 
City Auditor, City Treasurer, Health Officer, and Sinking Fund, 
the City Manager shall be the acting head of each and every 
department of the City until otherwise provided by the Council; 
but with the consent and approval of the Council, he may 


14 


appoint a Deputy or Chief Clerk to represent him in any depart- 
ment of which he is the acting head. No member of the Council 
shall interfere with the conduct of any department, except at the 
express direction of Council. 7 


Section 380. The City Manager shall be the Platting Com- 
missioner of the City and shall exercise the authority and dis- 
charge the duties of that office under the provisions of the gen- 
eral law of the State applicable thereto, except as the same may 
be modified by the Council. | 


Section 31. The City Manager shall receive such salary as 
may be fixed by ordinance of the Council. 


Administrative Officers and Departments. 


Section 32. The City Solicitor shall be an Attorney at Law 
admitted to practice in the State of Ohio and shall have such 
assistants of like qualifications as the Council may authorize. The 
City Solicitor shall be the legal adviser of and attorney and counsel 
for the municipality, and for all officers and departments thereof 
in matters relating to their official duties. He shall prepare all 
contracts, bonds and other instruments in writing in which the 
municipality is concerned, and shall endorse on each his approval 
of the form and correctness thereof; and no such contract with 
the City shall take effect until his approval is endorsed thereon. 
He or his assistant shall be the Prosecuting Attorney of the 
Police Court or any Municipal Court which may hereafter be 
established, and he shall perform such other duties as the Council 
shall require: 


Section 33. The City Auditor shall issue all warrants for 
the payment of money by the City. He shall keep an accurate 
account of all taxes and assessments, of all money due to, and 
of all receipts and disbursements by the municipality, of all its 
assets and liabilities, and of all appropriations made by the Coun- 
cil. At the end of each fiscal year, and oftener if required by 
the Council, he shall audit the accounts of the several depart- 
ments and officers, and shall audit all other accounts in which 
the municipality is interested. He may prescribe the form of 
reports to be rendered to his department, and the method of 
keeping accounts by all other departments, and he shall require 
reports from each department at such stated intervals and such 
other times as he may deem necessary, showing all moneys 
received by such department and the disposition thereof. Upon 
the death, resignation, removal, or expiration of the term of any 


15 


Platting 
Commissioner. 


Salary, 


City Solicitor. 


City Auditor. 


City Treasurer. 


Purchasing 
Agent. 


Trustees of 
the Sinking 
Fund. 


Other Boards 
and Depart- 
ments. 


officer, the City Auditor shall audit the accounts of such officer, 
and if such officer shall be found indebted to the municipality 
he shall immediately give notice thereof to the Council and the 
City Solicitor; and the latter shall forthwith proceed to collect 
the same. 4 


Section 34. The City Treasurer shall be the custodian of 
all moneys of the municipality, and shall keep and preserve the 
same in such manner and in such place or places as shall be 
determined by the Council. He shall pay out money only on 
warrants issued by the City Auditor. The office of the City 
Treasurer may be combined with any other office not incon- 
sistent therewith. | 


Section 35. The Purchasing Agent shall purchase all sup- 
plies for the City, and approve all vouchers for the payment 
of the same. He shall also conduct all sales of personal property 
which the Council may authorize to be sold as having become 
unnecessary or unfit for the City’s use. 


All purchases and sales shall conform to such regulations 
as the Council may from time to time prescribe; but in either 
case, if any amount in excess of five hundred dollars is involved, 
opportunity for competition shall be given. Where purchases 
or sales are made on joint account of separate departments, the 
Purchasing Agent shall apportion the charge or credit to each 
department. He shall see to the delivery of supplies to each 
department, and take and retain the receipt of each department 
therefor. Until the Council shall otherwise provide, the City 
Manager shall act as such Purchasing Agent. 


Section 86, The Board of Trustees of the Sinking Fund 
as now organized and existing shall continue, and such Board 
and all matters pertaining thereto shall be governed by the gen- 
eral laws of the State in effect January Ist, 1916, or thereafter 
enacted and applicable thereto; excepting that the members of 
said Board shall serve without compensation. The present mem- 
bers of said Board shall continue to serve for their unexpired 
terms; but their successors shall be appointed, and vacancies 
in said Board shall be filled, by the President of the Council, with 
the consent of said Council entered upon its journal. 


Section 3%. Excepting the officers, boards, commissions and — 
departments hereinbefore specially mentioned and provided for, 
the Council shall have power to establish, create, combine or 
abolish offices, boards, departments or divisions when in its 


16 


opinion the proper administration of the business of the City 
so requires; provided that all other administrative departments 
in existence January Ist, 1916, shall continue until otherwise 
provided by the Council, and all administrative boards in charge 
of any administrative department of the City shall continue in 
office, and their successors shall be appointed as heretofore, 
excepting as other provision is made in this Charter, or may 
hereafter be made by the Council. 


Section 38. Neither the City Manager, nor any person in 
the employ of the City under him shall take any active part in 
securing, or contribute any money toward, the nomination or 
election of any candidate or candidates for the office of Mem- 
ber of Council, excepting to answer such questions as may be 
put to him and as he may desire to answer. 


Section 39. The provisions of the last preceding Section 
and of Section 19 shall not be considered exclusive, but as in 
addition to any other provisions of the general law of the State 
applicable to the case; and a violation of any provision of such 
Sections shall subject the offender to removal from his office 
or employment, and to punishment by a fine of not exceeding 
one hundred ($100.00) dollars. 


Civil Service. 


Section 40. The Council may appoint three qualified electors 
of the City, no two of whom shall belong to the same political 
party,.as members of the Civil Service Commission to serve for 
a term of three years, and until their successors have been 
appointed and have qualified. A vacancy shall be filled by the 
Council, for the unexpired term. The Council may at any 
time remove any Commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty 
or malfeasance in office, having first given to such Commissioner 
a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be 
publicly heard, in person or by counsel, in his own defense; and 
any such removal shall be final; provided, however, that the 
members of the existing Civil Service Commission shall continue 
in office for the terms for which they have been appointed, and 
the Civil Service of the City, and such Commission and all matters 
pertaining thereto, shall be governed by the general laws of the 
State applicable thereto, until otherwise prescribed by ordinance 


of the Council. 
1 


Political 
Activity. 


Penalties. 


The Civil 
Service Com- 
mission. 


Appointments 
and 
Removals. 


Nomination 
of Candi- 
dates. 


Section 41. Appointments and promotions in the Civil Ser- 
vice of the City shall be made according to merit and fitness, 
to be ascertained, as far as practicable, by competitive examina- 
tions. Ordinances may be passed. to enforce this provision, to 
fix the powers and duties of the Commission and to prescribe 
rules and regulations governing the Civil Service and determin- 
ing the method by which persons in the Civil Service may be 


‘promoted, transferred, reduced or discharged; provided that all 


persons holding positions in the Civil Service of the City at the 
time of the adoption of this Charter, shall retain their positions 
until promoted, transferred, reduced or discharged according to 
law or in accordance with such ordinances. 


Elections. 


Section 42. Candidates for the elective offices of the City 
shall be nominated by petition only. Each petition shall con- 
tain the name of the candidate, giving his place of residence 
with street and number, if any, shall specify the office for which 
he is nominated, and if only one candidate is to be elected to 
the office named in the petition, it shall be signed by the qualified 
electors of the City not less in number than five (5) per cent. 
of the total number of registered voters therein. If more than. 
one candidate is to be elected to the office named, it shall be 
signed by not less than two (2) per cent. of the total number 
of registered voters in the City. 


Such petitions shall contain a provision that each signer 
thereto thereby pledges himself to support and vote for the can- 
didate whose nomination is therein requested, and each elector 
signing a petition shall add to his signature his place of residence 
giving street and number, if any, voting precinct, and date of 
signing. All signatures shall be made with ink or indelible pencil, 
and no elector shall sign the nominating petition of more than 
one candidate for the same office. 


Signers of such petitions shall insert in them the names of 
five electors as a committee who may fill vacancies caused by 
death or withdrawal. The signatures of all the petitioners need 
not be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper there 
shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, stating 
the number of signers thereto, that each person signed in his 
presence on the date mentioned, that each signature is that of 
the person it purports to be, and that all other statements therein 
are true to the best of his knowledge and belief. 


18 


Each circulator of a nominating petition or paper of a 
candidate for the Council shall file a copy of the same with 
the Clerk of Council and before so filing shall attach his affidavit 
that it is a true copy of such nomination paper, and it shall be 
the duty of the Clerk of Council to combine and preserve all 
copies of the nominating papers or petitions of candidates elected 
to the Council during their respective terms of office. 

Such petitions shall not be signed by any elector more than 
sixty days prior to the day of the election and such petitions 
shall be filed with the Board of Deputy State Supervisors of 
Elections of Ashtabula County, Ohio, not less than thirty-five 
days prior to the day of said election. 


Section 43. Any person whose name has been submitted for 
candidacy by any such petition shall file his acceptance of such 
candidacy with the election authorities not later than thirty days 
previous to such election; otherwise his name shall not appear 
upon the ballot. 


Section 44. The ballots used in all municipal elections shall 
be without party marks or designations. The whole number of 
ballots to be printed for the election of candidates for any elective 
office of the City shall be divided by the number of such candi- 
dates, and the quotient so obtained shall be the number of ballots 
in each series of ballots to be printed. The names of the candi- 
dates shall be arranged in alphabetical order and the first series 
of ballots printed. The first name shall then be placed last and 
the next series of ballots printed, and this process shall be repeated 
until each name shall have been first. These ballots shall then be 
combined into tablets with no two of the same order of names 
together. The ballots shall in all respects conform as nearly as 
may be to the ballots prescribed by the general election laws of 
the State. 


Section 45. Regular municipal elections shall be held on 
the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the 
odd numbered years. Any matter which by the terms of this 
Charter may be submitted to the electors of the city at any 
special election may be submitted on the day of any primary 
election or regular election. 


Section 46-1. Ballots for the election of members of the 
Council shall be marked according to the following rules and 
the same shall be printed at the top of each ballot under the 
head of ‘Directions to’ Voters.” Put the- figure 1° opposite 


1 


Acceptance. 


Ballots. 


Time of 
Election. — 


Marking the 
Ballot, 


Rules for 


Counting the 


Ballots. 


the name of your first choice for the Council. If you want to 
express also second, third and other preferences, do so by 
putting the figure 2 opposite the name of your second choice, 
the figure 3 opposite the name of your third choice, and so on. 
You may express thus as many preferences as you please. 
This ballot will not be counted for your second choice unless 
it is found that it cannot help your first; it will not be counted 
for your third choice unless it is found that it cannot help 
either your first or your second; etc. The more choices you 
express, the surer you are to make your ballot count for one 
of the candidates you favor. 


A ballot is spoiled if the figure 1 is put opposite more than 
one name. If you spoil this ballot, tear it across once, return 
it to the election officer in charge of the ballots, and get an- 
other from him. 


Section 46-2. Ballots cast for the election of members of 
the Council shall be counted and the results determined by the 
election authorities according to the following rules: 

(a) No ballot shall be declared invalid except one on 
which the first choice of the voter cannot be clearly ascertained. 
A ballot marked with a cross opposite one name, but with no 
other mark, shall be treated exactly as if it had been marked 
with a figure 1 opposite the same name,.but with no other 
mark. 


(b) The ballots shall first be sorted and counted at the 
several voting precincts according to the first choice of. the 
voters. The valid ballots so cast for each candidate shall be 
sorted into two groups, that of valid ballots on which the 
voter’s second choice is clearly indicated and that of valid 
ballots on which his second choice is not clearly indicated. 
Each such group shall be tied up by itself and properly marked 
on the outside and the two for each candidate shall then be tied 
up in one bundle which shall also be properly marked on the 
outside. All the bundles thus made up at a precinct, together 
with the invalid ballots and a record of all the ballots cast at 
the precinct, showing the number of invalid ballots, the number 
of valid ballots, the total number of first choice ballots for 


each candidate, and the number of ballots in each of the two 
groups of first choice ballots received by each candidate, shall 


be forwarded to the Board of Deputy State Supervisors of 
Elections, as directed by that Board and the counting of the 
ballots shall proceed under its direction. 


20 


(c) First choice votes for each candidate shall be added 
and tabulated as the first count. 

(d) The whole number of valid ballots shall then be 
divided by a number greater by one than the number of seats 
to be filled. The next whole number larger than the quotient 
thus obtained shall be the quota or constituency. 


(e) All candidates the number of whose votes on the first 
count is equal to or greater than the quota shall then be 
declared elected. 

(f) All votes obtained by any candidate in excess of the 
quota shall be termed the surplus of that candidate. 


(g) The surpluses shall be transferred, successively in 
order of size from the largest to the smallest. Each ballot of 
the surplus that is capable of transfer shall be transferred to 
and added to the votes of continuing candidates, according to 
the highest available preference on it. 


(h) “Ballots capable of transfer”. means ballots from 
which the preference of the voter for some continuing candi- 
date can be clearly ascertained. “Continuing candidates” 
means candidates who have not been declared elected or 
defeated. 

(i) The particular ballots to be taken for transfer as the 
surplus of such candidate shall be obtained by taking as nearly. 
an equal number of ballots as possible from the first choice 
ballots, capable of transfer, that have been cast for the candi- 
date in each of the different precincts of the city. All such 
surplus ballots shall be taken as they may happen to come in 
the different packages without selection. 


(j) After the transfer of all surpluses the votes standing 
to the credit of each candidate shall be counted and tabulated 
as the second count. 

(k) After the tabulation of the second count (or after 
that of the first count if no candidate received a‘surplus on the 
first) the candidate lowest on the poll as it then stands shall 
be declared defeated and all his ballots capable of transfer shall 
be transferred to the continuing candidates, each ballot being 
transferred to the credit of that continuing candidate preferred 
by the voter. After the transfer of these ballots a fresh count 
and tabulation shall be made. In this manner candidates shall 
be successively declared defeated, and their ballots capable of 
transfer transferred to continuing candidates, and a fresh count 
and tabulation made. After any tabulation the candidate to ~ 
be declared defeated shall be the one then lowest on the poll. 


a1 


(1) Whenever in the transfer of a surplus or of the ballots 
of a defeated candidate the votes of any candidate shall equal 
the quota, he shall immediately be declared elected and no 
further transfer to him shall be made. , 


(m) When candidates to the number of seats to be filled 
have been declared elected, all other candidates shall be de- 
clared defeated and the count shall be at an end; and when 
the number of continuing candidates shall be reduced to the 
number of seats to be filled, those candidates shall be declared 
elected and the count shall be at an end; and in this case the 
ballots of the last candidate defeated need not be transferred. 


(n) If at any count two or more candidates at the bottom 
of the poll have the same number of votes, that candidate shall 
first be declared defeated who was lowest at the next preced- 
ing count at which their votes were different. Should it happen 
that the votes of these candidates are equal to each other on 
all counts, lots shall be drawn to decide which candidate shall 
next be declared defeated. 


(o) In the transfer of the ballots of any candidate who 
has received ballots by transfer, those ballots shall first be 
transferred upon which the defeated candidate was first choice. 


(p) On each tabulation a count shall be kept of those 
ballots which have not been used in the election of some can- 
didate and which are not capable of transfer under the designa- 
tion “Non-transferable ballots.” 


(q) Every ballot that is transferred from one candidate 
to another shall be stamped or marked so that its entire course 
from candidate to candidate throughout the count can be con- 
veniently traced. In case a ‘recount of the ballotsus made; 
every ballot shall be made to take in the recount the same 
course that it took in the first count unless there is discovered 
' a mistake that requires its taking a different course, in which 
case such mistake shall be corrected and any changes made in 
the course taken by ballots that may be required as a result 
of such correction. The particular ballots the course of which 
is to be changed in the recount as a result of such corrections 
shall be taken as they happen to come, without selection. 


(r) So tar as may be consistent with good order and | 
with convenience in the counting and transferring of the bal- 
lots, the public, representatives of the press, and especially the 
candidates themselves shall be afforded every facility for being 
present and witnessing these operations. 


22 


Section 47. Objections to nominating petitions and 
papers may be made within the time prescribed, and the same 
shall be considered by the election authorities, under the gen- 
eral laws applying to objections to nomination papers in muni- 
cipalities, and all elections shall be conducted, and the results 
canvassed and certified, by the election authorities prescribed 
by general laws, and, except as otherwise provided by this 
Charter, or by ordinance or resolution of the Council hereafter 
enacted, the general laws shall control in all such elections. 


The Recall. 


Section 48. Any member of the Council, provided for in 
this Charter, may be removed from office by petition. 


Section 49. A petition for the recall of a member of the 
Council shall be signed by at least twenty-five per cent. of the 
total number of registered voters in the municipality, and no 
such petition shall be valid unless it contains the signatures of 
at least seventy-five per cent. of the electors who signed the 
nomination petition of the member whose recall is requested. 
The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one 
paper, but the signatures of those who signed the nominating 
petition of the member whose recall is sought shall be upon 
one paper separate from those containing the other signatures. 


Section 50. Petition papers shall be procured only from 
the Clerk of the Council, who shall keep a sufficient number 
of such blank petitions on file for distribution as herein pro- 
vided. Prior to the issuance of such petition papers an affidavit 
shall be made by one or more qualified electors and filed with 
the Clerk of the Council, stating the name of the member or 
members of Council whose removal is sought. The Clerk of 
the Council, upon issuing any such petition papers to .an 
elector, Shallventer in a record, to be kept in ‘his office, the 
name of the elector to whom issued, the date of such issuance 
and the number of papers issued and shall certify on each 
paper the name of the elector to whom issued and the date of 
issue. No petition paper shall be accepted as part of the peti- 
tion unless it is so issued and bears such certificate and unless 
it be filed as provided herein. 


Section 51. Each signer of a recall petition shall sign his 
name in ink or indelible pencil and shall place after his name 
his place of residence by street and number. To each such 
petition paper there shall be attached an affidavit of the circu- 


23 


General 
Laws to 
Apply. 


Application. 


Procedure. 


How Procured. 


Requirements of. 


Filing. 


Notice. 


Miscellaneous 
Provisions. 


Offenses 
Relating to 
Petitions. 


lator thereof, stating the number of signers to such part of the 
petition and that each signature appended to the paper was 
made in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person 
whose name it purports to be. 


Section 52. All papers comprising a recall petition shall 
be assembled and filed with the Clerk of the Council, as one 
instrument, within thirty days after the filing with the Clerk of 
the Council of the affidavit stating the name of the member or 
members of Council whose removal is sought. 


Section 53. At the expiration of said period of thirty 
days the Clerk of the Council shall certify upon such petition 
whether the signatures thereto amount to at least twenty-five 
(25) per cent. of the registered voters of the City and include 
the signatures of seventy-five per cent. of the electors who 
signed the nominating petition of the member whose removal 
is asked for. If the petition does contain the necessary signa- 
tures he shall at once serve notice of the fact upon the Council, 
and upon the receipt of such notice the member named in the 
petition shall be deemed removed from office and the vacancy 
shall be filled as provided in Section 6 of the Charter as herein 
amended. 


Section 59. Except as herein otherwise provided, no 
petition to recall any member of Council shall be filed within 
six months after he takes office. No person removed by recall 
shall be eligible to be elected or appointed to the Council for a 
period of two years after the date of such recall. The Clerk 
of the Council shall, preserve in his office all papers comprising 
or connected with a petition for a recall for the period of one 
year after the filing of the same. The method of removal 
herein provided is in addition to such other methods as are, or 
may be, provided by general law. 


Section 60. No person shall falsely impersonate another, 
or purposely write his name or residence falsely, in the signing 
of any petition for nomination, initiative, referendum or recall, 
or forge any name thereto, or sign any such paper with knowl- 
edge that he is not a qualified elector of the city. Nor shall any 
person employ or pay another, or accept employment or pay- 
ment, for circulating any nomination, initiative, referendum or 
recall petition upon the basis of the number of signatures pro- 
cured thereto. Any person violating any of the provisions of 
this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
shall, upon conviction, be fined in any sum not to exceed one 
hundred dollars and the costs of prosecution. The foregoing 

24 | 


* 


provisions shall not be held to be exclusive of, but in addition 
to, all laws of the State prescribing penalties for the same 
offenses or for other offenses relating to the same matter. 


Appropriations. 

Section 61. The fiscal year of the city shall begin on the 
first day of January. On or before the first day of November 
of each year the City Manager shall submit to the Council an 
estimate of the expenditures and revenues of the city depart- 
ments for the ensuing year. This estimate shall be compiled 
from detailed information obtained from the several depart- 
ments on uniform blanks to be furnished by the City Manager. 
The classification of the estimate of expenditures shall be as 
nearly uniform as possible for the main functional divisions 
of all departments, and shall give in parallel columns the fol- 
lowing information: 

(a) <A detailed estimate of the expense of conducting eaci: 
department as submitted by the department. 

(b) Expenditures for corresponding items for the last 
two fiscal years. : 

(c) Expenditures for corresponding items for the cur- 
rent fiscal year, including adjustments due to transfers between 
appropriations plus an estimate of expenditures necessary to 
complete the current fiscal year. 

(d) Amount of supplies and material on hand at the date 
of the preparation of the invoice. 

(e) Increase or decrease of requests compared with the 
corresponding appropriations for the current year. 

(f) Such other information as is required by the Council 
or that the City Manager may deem advisable to submit. 

(g) The recommendation of the City Manager as to the 
amounts to be appropriated with reasons therefor in such detail 
as the Council may direct. 

Sufficient copies of such estimates shall be prepared and 
submitted, that there may be copies on file in the office of the 
Clerk of Council for inspection by the public. 


Section 62. Upon receipt of such estimate the Council 
shall prepare an appropriation ordinance but before finally act- 
ing upon such tentative appropriation it shall fix a time and 
place for holding a public hearing upon the tentative appro- 
priation, and shall give public notice of such hearing. The 
Council shall not pass the appropriation ordinance until ten 
days after such public hearing. 


25 


The Estimate. 


Appropriation 
Ordinance. 


Transfer of 
Funds. 


Unencumbered 
Balances. 


* 


Payment of 
Claims. 


Certification 
of Funds. 


Section 638. Upon request of the City Manager the Coun- 
cil may transfer any part of an unencumbered balance of an 
appropriation to a purpose or object for which the appropria- 
tion for the current year has proved insufficient or may auth- 
orize a transfer to be made between items appropriated to the 
same office or department. 


Section 64. At the close of each fiscal year the unencum- 
bered balance of each appropriation shall revert to the respec- 
tive fund from which it was appropriated and shall be subject 
to future appropriation. Any accruing revenue of the city, not 
appropriated as hereinbefore provided, and any balances at any 
time remaining after the purposes of the appropriation shall 
have been satisfied or abandoned, may from time to time be 
appropriated by the Council to such uses as will not conflict 
with any uses for which such revenues specifically accrued. No 
money shall be drawn from the treasury of the city, nor shall 
any obligation for the expenditure of money be incurred, except 
pursuant to the appropriations made by the Council, but noth- 
ing in this or the preceding Section “shallvbe econstrucd=te 
authorize, the application of revenue derived from a public 
utility of the city to any other purpose than that of the utility 
from which the same was derived. 


Payments—Reports. 


Section 65. No warrant for the payment of any claim 
shall be issued by the City Auditor until such claim shall have 
been approved by the head of the department for which the 
indebtedness was incurred and by the City Manager, and such 
officers and their sureties shall be hable to.the municipality 
for all loss or damage sustained by the municipality by reason 
of the corrupt approval of any such claim against the muni- 
cipality. Whenever any claim shall be presented to the City 
Auditor he shall have power to require evidence that the 
amount claimed is justly due and is in conformity to law and 
ordinance, and for that purpose he may summon before him 
any officer, agent, or employee, of any department of the muni- 
cipality, or any other person, and examine him upon oath or 
affirmation relative thereto. 


Section 66. No contract, agreement or other obligation © 
involving the expenditure of money shall be entered into, nor 
shall any ordinance, resolution or order for the expenditure 
of money be passed by the Council, or be authorized by any 
officer of the city, unless the City Auditor shall first certify to 


26 


the Council or to the proper officer, as the case may be, that the 
money required for such contract, agreement, obligation or 
expenditure, is in the treasury, to the credit of the fund from 
which it is to be drawn, and not appropriated for any other pur- 
pose, which certificate shall be filed and immediately recorded. 
The sum so certified shall not thereafter be considered un- 
appropriated until the city is discharged from the contract, 
agreement or obligation. The provisions of this section shall 
not apply to contracts or proceedings relating to improvements 
any part of the cost of which is to be paid by special assess- 
ments. 


Section 67. All moneys actually in the treasury to the 
credit of the fund from which they are to be drawn, and all 
moneys applicable to the payment of the obligation or appro- 
priation involved that are anticipated to come into the treas- 
ury before the maturity of such contract, agreement, or obliga- 
tion, from taxes, assessments, or license fees, or from sales of 
services, products or by-products of any city undertaking, and 
moneys to be derived from lawfully authorized bonds sold and 


in process of delivery, for the purposes of such certificate shall. 


be deemed in the treasury to the credit of the appropriate fund 
and shall be subject to such certification. 


Section 68. The Council shall have furnished them a 
monthly balance showing in detail all receipts and expenditures 
of the city for the preceding month; and the aggregate receipts 
and expenditures of each department shall be published by the 
Council in such manner as to provide full publicity. At the 
end of each year the Council shall have printed an annual 
report, in pamphlet form, giving a classified statement of all 
receipts, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the city; a 
detailed comparison of such receipts and expenditures with 
those of the year preceding ; a summary of the Council proceed- 
ings and summary of the operations of the administrative de- 
partments for the previous twelve months. A copy of this 
report shall be furnished the State Bureau of Accounting, the 
Public Library and any citizen of the city who may apply 
therefor at the office of the Clerk of the Council. 


Improvements—Contracts. 


Section 69. In levying special assessments to pay any 
part of the cost of any public work or improvement, the Council 
shall not exceed any limitation as to the amount thereof which 
may be prescribed by the general laws of the State applicable 


ra 


Money in 
the Fund. 


Financial 
Reports. 


Limitation of 
Assessments, 


Improvements 
by Direct 
Labor. 


Sewer, Water 
and Gas 
Connections, 


Street 
Sprinkling. 


to municipalities and in force at the time it is determined by 
the Council that any such work shall be done or improvement 
made. Unless for special reasons which shall be stated in the 
ordinance levying an assessment or providing for the issue of 
bonds to pay any part of the cost of any such improvement to 
be made pursuant to contract, no such ordinance shall be 
passed, or assessment levied or money borrowed, until bids 
for the labor and material have been received and the approxi- 
mate cost of the improvement determined. 


Section 70. Nothing in the preceding section shall be 
construed to prohibit the Council from doing any public work 
or making any public improvement by the direct employment 
of the necessary labor and the purchase of the necessary sup- 
plies and materials, with separate accounting as to each 
improvement so made, but the Council may upon so declaring 
by ordinance or resolution cause any public work or improve- 
ment to be done or made in such manner. 


Section 71. Before paving or otherwise surfacing or resur- 
facing any street or alley of the city, the Council shall deter- 
mine the time within which sewer, water, gas or other con- 
nections shall be constructed, and shall give notice thereof to 
the persons or corporations required to make the same, and if 
such persons or corporations fail to make any such connection 
when so required no permission to make the same shall there- 
after be granted within five years from the completion of any 
such street improvement unless with the consent of five mem- 
bers of the Council, expressed by resolution adopted at a regu- 
lar meeting of the Council and stating the reasons therefor and 
the conditions under which the same shall be made. Nothing 
herein shall be construed to prohibit the Council from provid- 
ing that such connections may be made’‘by the city and the 
cost thereof assessed. against the lots and lands specially bene- 
fited thereby. 


Section 72. Council may provide by ordinance or resolu- 
tion for the sprinkling of streets or parts of streets with water, 
or treating the same with oil or other dust preventive, and for 
assessing the cost thereof against the abutting property if not 
paid for by the owners of said property within the time speci- 
fied in such ordinance or resolution. In determining what 
streets or parts of streets shall be so sprinkled or treated Coun- 
cil shall be governed as far as practicable by the wishes of a 
majority of the owners of the abutting property living thereon. 


28 


Section 73. Council may provide by ordinance or resolu- 
tion for assessing against the abutting property the cost of 
removing snow and ice from the sidewalks of the city, and for 
assessing against property the cost of cutting and removing 
therefrom noxious weeds and rubbish. 


Section 74. A proposed expenditure, other than for the 
compensation of persons employed by the city, in excess of 
one thousand dollars, shall first be authorized by ordinance of 
the Council, and the contract therefor shall be made upon the 
approval of the City Manager and the Council. 


Section 75. The Council shall not authorize or enter into 
any contract which is not to go into full operation during the 
term for which all the members of such Council are elected. 


Section 76. When it becomes necessary in the opinion of 
the City Manager, in the prosecution of any work or improve- 
ment under contract, to make alterations or modifications in 
such contract, such alterations or modifications, if made, shall 
be of no effect until the price to be paid. for the work and 
material, or both, under the altered or modified contract, has 
been agreed upon in writing and signed by the contractor and 
by the City Manager and approved by the Council. 


ify 


Section No contracts. shall be awarded upon bids 
which as a whole, or in aggregate, if bids for parts of the work 
are taken, exceed the estimate for the improvement contem- 


plated. 


Section 78. All contracts, agreements or other obliga- 
tions entered into and all ordinances passed, or resolutions and 
orders adopted contrary to the provisions of the preceding 
sections, shall be void. 


Franchises. 


Section 79. No grant, or renewal thereof, to construct 
and operate a public utility in the streets and public grounds 
of the city shall be made by the Council to any individual, com- 
pany or corporation in violation of any of the limitations con- 
tained in this Charter. 


Section 80. No such grant shall be exclusive, nor shall 
it be made for a longer period than twenty years. No such 
grant shall be renewed earlier than two years prior to its 
expiration unless the Council shall by a vote of at least five of 
its members first declare by ordinance its intention of consider- 


29 


Assessment 
for Removal 
of Snow, 

Weeds, Etc. 


Expenditures 
in Excess of 
$1,000.00. 


Time of 
Making 
Contracts. 


Modification 
of Contracts. 


Bids in Excess 


of Estimate. 


Contracts— - 
When Void. 


Grants 
Limited. 


Period of 
Grants. 


Strict 
Construction. 


Free Carriage 
of Policemen 
and Firemen. 


Assignment. 


Right of 
Purchase. 


Extension by 
Annexation. 


Consents. 


ing a renewal thereof. All grants of the right to make exten- 
sions of any public.utility shall be subject as far as practicable 
to the terms of the original grant and shall expire therewith. 


Section 81. All franchises or privileges for the occupa- 
tion of the streets shall be strictly construed in favor of the 
city and no franchise or privilege shall be held to have been 
granted unless specified in clear and unmistakable terms. 


Section 82. The grant of every franchise for a street, 
suburban or interurban railroad may provide that policemen 
and firemen of the city in uniform shall at all times, while in 
the actual discharge of their duties, be allowed to ride in the 
cars of such railroad within the boundaries of the city without 
paying therefor and with all the rights of other passengers. 


Section 83. No such grant shall be leased, assigned or 
otherwise alienated except with the express consent of the 
Council. 


Section 84. All such grants shall reserve to the city the 
right to purchase or lease all the property of the utility used 
in or useful for the operation of the utility, at a price either 
fixed in the ordinance making the grant, or to be fixed in the 
manner provided by such ordinance, which price shall in no 
event include any value for the grant. Nothing in such 
ordinance shall prevent the city from acquiring such property 
by condemnation proceedings or in any other lawful mode, 
but such rights and remedies shall be in addition to those 
reserved in such ordinance. Upon the acquisition of such prop- 
erty by purchase, condemnation or otherwise all grants shall 
at once terminate. 


Section 85. It shall be provided in every such grant that 
upon the annexation of any territory to the city the portion 
of any such utility that may be located within such annexed 
territory and upon the streets, alleys or public grounds thereof, 
shall thereafter be subject to all the terms of the grant as 
though it were an extension made thereof. 


Section 86. No consent of the owner of property abut- 
ting on any highway or public ground shall be required for 
the construction, extension, maintenance or operation of any. 
public utility by original grant or renewal, unless such public 
utility is of such a character that its construction or operation 
is an additional burden upon the rights of the property .owners 


in such highways or public grounds. 


30 


Section 87. All grants shall be subject to the right of the Right of 


_ city, whether in terms reserved or not, to control at all times 
the distribution of space in, over, under or across all streets, 
alleys or public grounds, occupied by public utility fixtures, 
and, when in the opinion of the Council the public interest so 
requires, such fixtures may be caused to be reconstructed, 
relocated, altered or discontinued; and said city shall at all 
times have the power to pass all regulatory ordinances affect- 
ing such utilities which, in the opinion of the Council, are 
required in the interest of the public health, safety or accom- 
modation. 


Section 88. If any action shall be instituted or prosecuted 
directly or indirectly by the grantee of any such grant, or by its 
stockholders or creditors, to set aside or have declared void any 
of the terms of such grant, the whole of such grant may be 
thereupon forfeited and annulled at the option of the Council, 
to be expressed by ordinance.. All such grants shall make pro- 
vision for the declaration of a forfeiture by the Council for the 
violation by the grantee or any of the terms thereof. 


Section 89. The Council by resolution may require the 
owner or operator of any railway, railroad or spur track lying 
within the street limits to lay, maintain and renew the pave- 
ments between the rails, and the tracks, and for a distance of 
one foot outside of the track, and to remove snow and ice 
therefrom and to sprinkle the roadway to a width of not more 
than fifty feet, and upon failure of any such owner or operator 
to comply with the provisions of such resolution after sixty 
days’ notice to the person having charge or management of 
such railway, railroad or spur track in the city, the city may do 
said work directly or by contract, as in the case of other 
improvements, at the expense of the owner or operator of 
such tracks, and all such expense shall be reported by the City 
Manager to the Council, and shall be charged against such 
owner or operator and shall be a lien upon all the real estate 
and leasehold interest of such owner or operator within the 
County of Ashtabula, and such charge and cost, together with 
a penalty of $25 for each and every day of failure on the part 
of such owner or operator to comply witth the requirements 
of such resolution, may be collected in any Court of compe- 
tent jurisdiction, or the lien enforced in the manner provided 
by law. 


O1 


Regulation. 


Forfeitures, 


Paving and 
Sprinkling. 


Accounts and 
Reports. 


Grants Not 
Included. 


_ Section 90. Every person or corporation operating a 
public utility within the city limits, whether under a grant 
heretofore or hereafter obtained, shall keep and maintain at 
some place within the city suitable and complete books of 
account, showing in detail the assets, financial obligations, 
gross revenue, net profits and all the operations of such utility 
which are usually shown by a complete system of bookkeeping. 
Each person or corporation, within sixty days after the end 
of each of its fiscal years, unless the Council shall extend the 
time, shall file with the Council a report for the preceding 
fiscal year showing the gross revenue, the net profits, expenses 
of repairs, betterments and additions, amount paid for salaries, 
amount paid for interest and discount, other expenses of opera- 
tion, and such other information, if any, as the Council from 
time to time may prescribe. Council may also prescribe the 
form for such reports. 


It shall be the duty of each person or corporation to fur- 
nish the Council such supplementary or special information 
about its affairs as Council may demand; and the Council, or 
its authorized representative, shall at any and all reasonable 
times have access to all the books, records, and papers of each 
and every such person or corporation, with the privilege of 
making copies of same or any part thereof. The duties herein 
prescribed may be specifically enforced by appropriate legal 
proceedings; and in addition, each such person or corporation, 
for failure to comply with the provisions of this section, shall 
be hable to the City of Ashtabula, Ohio, in the sum of twenty- 
five dollars per day for each day of such failure, to be recovered 
in a civil action in the name of the city. 


The provisions of this section do not apply to any utility 
extending in its operations to other communities not properly 
suburban to the City of Ashtabula, Ohio; but the Council by 
ordinance may make the same, or any part thereof, applicable 
to the portion of any such utility operated within the limits of 
the city. 


Section 91. Revocable permits for laying spur tracks 
across or along streets, alleys or public grounds, to connect 
a steam or electric railroad with any property in need of 
switching facilities shall not be regarded as a grant within the 
meaning of this Charter, but may be permitted in accordance 
with such terms and conditions as the Council may by ordi- 
nance prescribe. 


32 


Section 92. Nothing in this Charter contained shall oper- 


ate in any way, except as herein specifically stated, to limit the 
Council in the exercise of any of its lawful powers respecting 
public utilities, or to prohibit the Council from imposing in any 
such grant such further restrictions and provisions as it may 
deem to be in the public interest, provided only that the same 
are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter or the 
Constitution of the State. 


Miscellaneous Provisions. 


Section 93. All general laws of the State applicable to 
municipal corporations, now or hereafter enacted, and which 
are not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter, or with 
ordinances or resolutions hereafter enacted by the Council, 
shall be applicable to this City and all officers and departments 
thereof; provided, however, that nothing contained in this 
Charter shall be construed as limiting the power of the Coun- 
cil to enact any ordinance or resolution not in conflict with the 
Constitution of the State or with the express provisions of this 
Giiarter, 


Section 94. All ordinances and resolutions in force at the 
time of the taking effect of this Charter, not inconsistent with 
its provisions, shall continue in full force and effect until 
amended or repealed. 


Section 95. All persons, except the members of the Board 
of Education and the Police Judge, holding office at the time 
this Charter is adopted shall continue in office and in the per- 
formance of their duties until provision shall have been other- 
wise made in accordance with this Charter for the performance 
or discontinuance of the duties of any such office. When such 
provision shall have been made the term of any such officer 
shall expire and the office be deemed abolished. The powers 
which are conferred and the duties which are imposed upon 
any officer, board or department of the city under the laws of 
the State, or under any city ordinance or contract in force at 
the time of the taking effect of this act shall, if such office or 
department is abolished by this Charter, be thereafter exercised 
and discharged by the Council, officer, board or department 
upon whom are imposed corresponding functions, powers and 
duties by this Charter or by any ordinance or resolution of the 
Council hereafter enacted. 


33 


\ 


General 
Provision, 


General Laws 
to Apply. 


Ordinances 
Continued 
in Force. 


Continuance 
of Present 
Officers. 


Continuance 
of Contracts 
and Vested 
Rights. 


Investigation. 


Oath of 
Office. 


Hours of 
Labor. 


Section 96. All vested rights of the city shall continue to 
be vested and shall not in any manner be affected by the adop- 
tion of this Charter; nor shall any right or liability, or pending 
suit or prosecution, either in behalf of or against the city, be 
in any manner affected by the adoption of this Charter, unless 
otherwise herein expressly provided to the contrary. All con- 
tracts entered into by the city or for its benefit prior to the 
taking effect of this Charter shall continue in full force and 
effect. All public work begun prior to the taking effect of this 
Charter shall be continued and perfected hereunder. Public 
improvements for which legislative steps shall have been 
taken, under laws in force at the time this Charter takes effect, 


may be carried to completion in accordance with the provisions 
of such laws. 


Section 97. The Council, or any committee thereof, the 
City Manager and any advisory board appointed by the Council 
for such purpose, shall have power at any time to cause the 
affairs of any department or the conduct of any officer or 
employee to be investigated; and for such purpose shall have 
power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the produc- 
tion of books, papers and other evidence; and for that purpose 
may issue subpoenas or attachments which shall be signed by 
the President or Chairman of the body or by the officer mak- 
ing the investigation, and shall be served by any officer author- 
ized by law to serve such process. The authority making such 
investigation shall also have power to cause the testimony to 
be given under oath to be administered by some officer author- 
ized by general law to administer oaths; and shall also have 
power to punish as for contempt any person refusing to testify 
to any fact within his knowledge, or to produce any books, or 


papers under his control, relating to the matter under investi- 
gation. : 


Section 98. All officers before taking office shall take the 
oath of office prescribed by law, the same to be in writing and 
filed with the City Auditor. 


Section 99. Except in case of extraordinary emergencies, 
not to exceed eight hours shall constitute a day’s work, and 
not to exceed forty-eight hours a week’s work, for workmen 


o4 


engaged on any public work carried on or aided by the muni- 
cipality, whether done by contract or otherwise. The Council 
shall, by ordinance, provide for the enforcement of the provi- 
sions of this section. 


Section 100. Amendments to this Charter may be sub- 
mitted to the electors of the city by a two-thirds vote of the 
Council, and, upon petition signed by ten (10) per cent. of the 
electors of the city, setting forth any such proposed amend- 
ment, shall be submitted by such Council. The ordinance 
providing for the submission of any such amendment shall 
require that it be submitted to the electors at the next regular 
municipal election if one shall occur not less than sixty nor 
more than one hundred and twenty days after its passage; 
otherwise it shall provide for the submission of the amendment 
at a special election to be called and held within the time afore- 
said. Not less than thirty days prior to such election the Clerk 
of the Council shall mail a copy of the proposed amendment 
to each elector whose name appears upon the poll or registra- 
tion books of the last regular municipal or general election. If 
such proposed amendment is approved by a majority of the 
electors voting thereon it shall become a part of the Charter at 
the time fixed therein. 


ection LUlgeulisany-section or part of a: section. of this 
Charter proves to be invalid or unconstitutional, the same shall 
not be held to invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect 
of any other section or part of a section of this Charter, unless 
it clearly appear that such other section or part of a section is 
wholly or necessarily dependent for its operation upon the 
section or part of a section so held unconstitutional or invalid. 


Section 102. ‘For the purpose of nominating and electing 
officers and all purposes connected therewith and for the pur- 
pose of exercising the powers of the City as provided herein, 
this Charter shall take effect from the time of its approval by 
the electors of the City. For the purpose of establishing de- 
partments, divisions and officers, and distributing the functions 
thereof, and for all other purposes it shall take effect on the 
first day of January, 1916. | 


Amendment 
of Charter. 


Saving Clause. 


When Charter 
Takes Effect. 


HN 


We) the undersigned members of the Charter Comin 
of the City of Ashtakula, Ohio, elected at a general election 
held on the 4th day of November, 1913, have framed and hereby | 
propose the foregoins as a Charter for the City of Ashtabula, 
Ohio. ; 


Done in duplicate in the City of As’ 1», Ohio, this 8th 
day of September, A. D. 1914. 


The Charter Commission. 


P. C. Remick, President. 
W. E. Boynton, Ist Vice-President. 
THEODORE HALL, 2d Vice-President. 
F. R. Hoge, Secretams 
E. R. Pierer, Treasurer 


C. H. Gartar Joun J. Kosxr Aen 

F, J. KEMPEL © Cuas. E. WaLLIN Sas 
H. W. Luerut M. G. Pecx Heer 
H. C. Dierericn J. D. KNowLTon 

W. E. WENNER 


ah 


36 


bayer ee 


